The Government is in the process of setting up a National Youth Advisory Council represented by young leaders from various sectors along with other stakeholders, to advise the Government on youth related issues, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Sarbananda Sonowal said at an event organised by industry body Assocham in New Delhi today.

"This
will provide an institutional mechanism for actively involving youth
in the governance process," said Sonowal while inaugurating a
conclave titled 'Young India@2030: Preparing the nation,'
organized by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of
India (ASSOCHAM).

In
Focus

He
further informed that the Sports Ministry has asked the Indian
Olympic Association (IOA) to submit a detailed proposal to the
Government regarding the bid for hosting the 2019 Asian Games. "We
have requested the IOA to submit comprehensive proposal to the
Ministry," said Sonowal on the sidelines of the ASSOCHAM
conclave.

Highlighting the focus of the Central Government on
youth-led development, Sonowal said, "It is extremely important to
actively involve the youth in political and governance process,
formulation of policies and programs as also in monitoring their
implementation."

In his address at the ASSOCHAM conclave,
the Minister of State for Youth Affairs, Sports, Skill Development
and Entrepreneurship emphasized upon the need to perk up the
educational infrastructure in the country.

"Educational
infrastructure would need to be expanded on a massive scale, so that
each young Indian has access to educational facilities, the quality
of education also needs considerable improvement to bring it up to
global standards," said the Minister.

"We
need to provide high quality education to the youth and to equip them
with necessary skill-set to enable them to earn their livelihood and
contribute to development process of the country," the minister
added.

Stressing upon the need to bolster skill development
infrastructure in India, Sonowal said, "Skills base of India is
quite low as compared to other developed economies as just about 10
per cent of workers in the age group of 15-59 have received
vocational training and only 2.5 per cent of these have received
formal vocational training."

"It is therefore necessary to
enhance skill development infrastructure in a manner that all those
who enter the labour force acquire relevant skills before-hand which
would require major scaling up of current infrastructure."

With
a view to motivate the youth to become entrepreneurs, the Minister
said, "We need to create right conditions and provide all necessary
support for promotion of business enterprises in the
country."

Promotion of healthy lifestyle and sports amid
youth through proper healthcare facilities is another priority of the
Government for the youth, he added.

In his address at the
ASSOCHAM conclave, Rajeev Gupta, Secretary, Youth Affairs and Sports
Ministry said, "The department has proposed to set up a National
Youth Development Fund (NYDF) to create a vehicle for taking
innovative initiatives for the youth."

"The fund is
proposed to be set up with initial contributions from the Government,
but we expect that corporate will contribute to this fund from their
CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) allocations," added Gupta.